Tube holder



Patented Dec. 25, 1945 TUBE HOLDER George Dewey Walker, Riveredge, and Clarence Emerson Oulsnam and Frydryak Krysa, Jersey City, N. J., assignors to -Colgate-Pahnolive- Peet Company, Jersey City, N. J., a corporation of Delaware Application January 210, 1944, Serial No. 518,970

eolaims. (ol. 248-108) The present invention relates to tube holders for tube filling and closingmachines.

Collapsible tubes containing tooth paste, shaving cream, and similar materials of a plastic nature are iilled and closed in automatic machines. While there are a number of different types of such machines in commercialuse, they all' comprise tube holders which are designed to hold the tubes with the cap ends down and to move'thel tubes to the various stations for lling, closing, etc. The tube holders ordinarily are moved stepwise along a track or guide in a closed course or orbit. In the operation of these machines, the cap ends of the empty tubes are inserted, either automatically or manually, into the holders at a loading station. The loaded holders move to a lling station, where the liquid or plastic material is owed into the tube through the open upper end. In order to ll the tubes satisfactorily, it is necessary that the nozzle of the filling device move into the tube until it is near the cap end before the material is flowed through it into the tube, and that it move outwardly as the tube fills until it is clear of the tube. This relative motion is obtained i-n some machines by mounting the nozzle for vertical motion-into and out of a stationary tube and in other machines by moving .the tube holder at the filling station toward and away from a stationary nozzle.A In either case, after the tube has been iilled the holder with the l'lled tube advances to a closing station where the end of the tube is folded over and crimped or a clip applied. The Aclosing of the tube may require several successive operations at different stations. the filled and closed tube then'moves to a pickout station where an automatic picker grasps the closed end of the tube to lift it out of the holder and place it on a conveyor which carries it to a cartoning machine.

Satisfactory operation of such automatic filling and closing machines requires that the tube be held in accurate position when the holder stops at the iilling, closing and pick-out stations. If a tube isnot properly positioned, for example when the nozzle descends into the tube, the'wall of the tube may be crushed and the contents spilled into the holder and onto the track, thus causing delays while the'machine is. stopped for cleaning. Similarly, if the tube is not held in proper position at the closing station, an imperfect crimp results. At the pick-out station, if the tubes are not in proper position, the pickers may damage the tube and/or fail to remove it.

The tube holders of the prior art comprise a re- The holder with ceptacle having a cylindrical bore corresponding approximately to the outside diameter of the tubes to be placed therein, a shoulder or flange at the bottom of the bore upon which the shoulder of the tube rests, and a recess for'the cap. Tubes of a given size vary considerably in" outside diameter, so that thereceptacle cannot be' relied upon properly to receive and accurately to position all tubes of a given size. Thus, a tube of somewhat larger diameter than the receptacle is designed to hold properly would lit too tightly for satisfactory operation, whereas a somewhat smaller tube would wobble around in the'receptacleA and not be positioned accurately for filling, closing or' picking from the receptacle. One ex'- pedient which has been widely used in an attempt to overcome this difculty was to make the bore large enough to take the largest tubes of a given size and to provide resilient means adapted to bear against the outside wall of the tube, e g., a leaf spring fastened at one end to the outside wall of the receptacle with the. other end extending into the bore through a slit in the wall. Us-

`ing such springs, reasonably satisfactory positioning of the tubes could be obtained, provided the external diameter of the tubes did not vary more than plus or minus 0.005 inch from a specified size for which the holder was designed. The leaf springs, however, often scratched the end of the tube inserted into the receptacle, and in cases where the tubes were iilled a little too full,

the closing operation caused them to swell and bind in the receptacle. When the automatic pickers exerted; an upward force against the crimped end of such tubes, the crimped end often tore open, or the walls of the tube were fractured.

Itis an object of the present invention to provide a tube holder into which tubes deviating considerably'from specified size can be readily inserted, which will accurately hold tubes in an upright position for iilling and closing, and which will not bind even swollen tubes against the Withdrawal force of automatic pickers.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will be apparent from the following description of the invention taken in conjunction with the drawing, in which Fig. 1 is an elevation of a tworeceptacle tube holder and Fig. 2 is a vertical sectional View along the line 2-2 of Fig. l.

Referring now more particularly to the drawing. reference numeral E designates a tube holder Y having a base plate 4' and two tube receptacles. Holders of this general design are used in one type of commercial automatic iilling and closing machine. The base plate 4 extends a short distance beyond the walls of the tube receptacle B, providing a iiange which cooperates with the track of the automatic filling and closing machine to maintain the' tube holder in proper position in the machine. In another type of such machines the tube holders are made separable from the base lplates to which they are secured by threaded fasteners, tapered plugs and sockets, or the like. The type of holder shown i-n the drawing is used for illustrating the invention and not by way of limitation.

Each tubereceptacle 6 comprises a base 8 having a recess 9 large enough to accommodate the cap of the tube which will be placed therein as illustrated by the dashed outline. Surrounding the recess 9 is a shoulder lll which is preferably beveled on the same angle as the shoulder of the tube which will be used in the holder. Above the shoulder I is a retaining wall I2 of cylindrical shape and having an internal radius of curvature slightly longer than half the outside diameter of the tubes to be used therein. While it is preferred to provide a shoulder |10, it is not essential and the inward motion of the tube into the receptacle may be limited by contact of the cap with the bottom of the recess '9.

The retaining wall i2 comprises a plurality of segments which are :movable relative to each other. Satisfactory results have been obtained with a retaining wall comprising two substantially semi-cylindrical segments. One of these segments, I4, is preferably iixed and may be integral with the base 8. The other is ya movable segment t6 which may be .hinged to the base 8. Resilient means are provided for urging the .movable section inwardly toward the fixed section. One of the sections preferably is somewhat less than a semi-cylinder, so that when the movable section is in closed position, as shown in Fig. 2, the bore of the receptacle departs slightly from and is somewhat smaller than a true circle of the same radius of curvature. In lthis way a receptacle is provided which .satisfactorily .holds and positions tubes within the tolerance of plus or minus 0.02 inch. Moreover, even though the tube is caused to swell in the closing operation, the wall of the receptacle yields readily enough to 4permit the pickers to remove the tube without damaging the crimp yor deforrning the tube.

In a preferred embodiment of the invention, the movable section I6 is secured to the base 8 by a leaf spring vI8 which serves the dual function of the hinge and resilient means for urging the movable section to a closed position. The leaf spring may advantageously :be set in `aligned grooves 2D in the movable .segment t6 and the base 8, as illustrated .in Fig. 1, although this is not essential if a plurality of fasteners 22 are used .as illustrated in Fig. 1 for .securing the .leaf spring to both the base and the movable segment.

A simple way to make the tube holders embodying the present invention is to .cast or mold the holder in integral form from va suitable metal, alloy, plastic, or the like, and to cut the movable segment along the lines shown in Fig. '2 with a hack saw. The saw kerf removes sufficient Vmaterial from the receptacle wall to provide for the offset from the true circular shape referred to above.

Although the invention has been described vin considerable detail in connection with `certain preferred embodiments, it will be understood that modifications and variations within the scope of the appended claims are contemplated.

We claim:

l. A tube holder comprising a base and a receptacle thereon having a bore surrounded by a wall, said wall comprising sections movable relative to each other to vary the cross-section of the bore, at least one of said sections being hinged to said base, and means yieldingly urging said sections to closed position.

2. A tube holder comprising a base having a recess surrounded by a shoulder of fixed size adapted to support the shoulder of a tube in said holder, and a retaining wall above and around said shoulder, said retaining wall comprising sections movable relative to each other to vary the cross-section of the bore formed by said wall sections, and means yieldingly urging said sections to closed position.

3. A tube holder comprising a base and a receptacle thereon having a bore surrounded by a wall, said wall comprising a fixed section and a movable section, said movable section being mounted on said base by a leaf spring yieldingly urging the movable section toward the fixed section.

4. A tube holder comprising a base having a recess surrounded by a shoulder of nxed size adapted to support the shoulder of a tube in said holder, and a retaining wall yabove and around said shoulder, said retaining wall comprising a iixed .section and a movable section, and means yieldingly urging the movable section toward the fixed section.

5. A tube holder comprising a base having a recess, a shoulder surrounding said recess, and a retaining wall above said shoulder, said retaining wall comprising a iixed section and a movable section, and a leaf lspring securing said movable .section to said base.

6. A tube holder comprising a base having a recess, a shoulder surrounding said recess, and a retaining wall above said shoulder, said retaining wall comprising a vfired section and a movable section, said base and said movable section having aligned grooves, .and a 4leaf spring having a width corresponding to the width of said grooves `secured in said grooves.

`7. A tube holder comprising a base plate, two tube receptacles on said plate, leach receptacle comprising a .base having a recess, a shoulder surrounding said recess, and a retaining wall above said shoulder, said retaining wall comprising sections movable relative Ito each other, and means yieldingly urging said sections inwardly.

8. Atu'beholder comprising a fixed section having a substantially semi-cylindrical recess, a movable section having a substantially semicylindrical recess, and a leaf spring mounting said movable section in mating relation to said fixed section to form a receptacle.

9. A tube holder comprising a sectional wall defining a receptacle of variable cross-section, a shoulder of fixed dimensions below said sectional wall adapted Vto `support; the shoulder of a tube in said receptacle, and means yieldingly urging said wail sections to a position of minimum crosssection.

GEORGE DEWEY WALKER. CLARENCE EMERSON OULSNAM. FRYDRYAK KRYSA. 

